Shamrocks come up short in semis

PORTLAND — The Portland St. Patrick football team nearly came all the way back from an uncharacteristically tough first half Saturday night in its 8-Players State Semifinal game against Deckerville.

Trailing the Eagles 22-0 in the second quarter, the Shamrocks scored before halftime, then scored the only three touchdowns of the second half to force overtime. However, after the teams traded scored and successful two-point conversion tries, the Eagles put a stop to St. Pats' playoff run as they scored the only points of the second extra session to earn a 36-30 win.

The loss was the first and only suffered by the Shamrocks in their inaugural season of 8-Player football.

Shamrock head coach Pat Russman said he was proud of his players effort to come back after a slow start.

"We didn't want to be in that hole obviously, but they fought their way out of it and gave themselves some opportunities," he said.

"We've just had to start a little faster then where we were at that's for sure.

"Deckerville is a very good football team and we wish them the best of luck."

Collin Lay led the Shamrocks' offense, finished with 77 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown. He also completed 19 of 33 passes for 249 yards, with two completions for scores, and threw one interception.

John Pline finished with four catches for 122 yards, while Schrauben earned 10 receptions for 100 yards, including one for the Shamrocks' overtime touchdown and another on the two-point conversion.

Beachnau caught five passes, two for touchdowns, for 27 yards.On defense, Jesse Smith and Justin Gross led St. Pats with 11 tackles each, while Connor Hengesbach finished with 10.

Russman said although they came up short of a state final berth, his players have worked hard all season and put together a tremendous season, and he expects a lot of success from them beyond the football field.

"The kids are awesome. They put their time in and they just keep working," he said. "They are all outstanding young men. We expect to see a lot of good things from them through the rest of this school year and when they go on to college.

"I am very pleased with the effort this year, especially from our seniors and they way they led our team.

The Shamrocks finish the year with a record of 11-1 and their first regional championship since 1997.